Spring 2021  |  HIST 5051 Section 001: Before Herodotus: History and Historiography of Mesopotamia and the Ancient Near East (67441)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Lecture
Credits:
3 Credits
Grading Basis:
A-F or Audit
Instructor Consent:
No Special Consent Required
Instruction Mode:
In Person Term Based
Class Attributes:
Delivery Mode
Enrollment Requirements:
Exclude fr or soph 5000 level courses
Meets With:
CNES 5051 Section 001
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/19/2021 - 05/03/2021
Tue 04:00PM - 06:30PM
UMTC, East Bank
Folwell Hall 28
Enrollment Status:
Open (0 of 2 seats filled)
Course Catalog Description:
Historical method/sources for ancient Near Eastern history. Historical traditions. Historiographic texts of Mesopotamia and neighboring regions of the ancient Near East, secondary emphasis on their relationship to works of classical historians such as Herodotus. Use of these sources in modern historiography of ancient Near East. prereq: Prev coursework in ancient Near Eastern history recommended
Class Description:
Three millennia elapsed from the invention of writing in Egypt and Mesopotamia, toward 3100 BCE, until the writing of native histories of these two lands in Greek, by Manetho of Egypt and Berossos of Babylon -- both Hellenized priests working under the new Macedonian rulers who divided the legacy of Alexander the Great. During those three millennia, several genres of literature developed in Egypt, Mesopotamia, and neighboring regions, which, while not history in the Herodotean sense, purport to record, narrate, or explain the past. Such "historiographic" writings are quite diverse, for they were the products of many distinct peoples in different periods, and they were created for various purposes under diverse circumstances. This seminar focusses on sources and methods in ancient Near Eastern history. In this course, we study the histories of the various states and peoples of the ancient Near East through the lenses supplied by their own representations of the past, and at the same time we investigate how modern historians construct knowledge of the past using these and other sources and evidence. Secondary emphases will include the development of historical writing in biblical Israel and Judah, and the relations between ancient Near Eastern historical or historiographic literature and the works of Greek historians such as Herodotus. The class will read some of the most important primary sources for the history of the ancient Near East, in translation, and practice applying historical methods in studying these sources. In order to develop critical understanding of modern histories of the ancient Near East, as well as to explore different methods and approaches to the study of the past, students will read secondary literature which engages in discussion of theoretical issues in the study of ancient history.
Grading:
30% Reports/Papers
50% Written Homework
5% In-class Presentations
15% Class Participation
Class Format:
40% Lecture
45% Discussion
10% Student Presentations
5% Demonstration
Workload:
50-100 Pages Reading Per Week
30 Pages Writing Per Term
1 Paper(s)
1 Presentation(s)
5 Homework Assignment(s)
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/67441/1213
Instructor Supplied Information Last Updated:
19 April 2011

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